Tennessee punter Britton Colquitt entered a guilty plea to a first-offense driving under the influence charge Monday at Session Court in Knoxville.
He was sentenced to 11 months, 29 days of probation. In addition he must serve 24 hours of jail time. He is credited with already serving 10 hours and will serve the remainder at 10 a.m. Friday. Also, he must pick up litter for 24 hours and pay a $350 fine plus court costs. His driver's license was suspended for a year.
The rising senior was facing charges of driving under the influence and leaving the scene of an accident after hitting a parked car and fleeing in a Feb. 17 incident near Jackson Avenue, according to police reports.
Colquitt was arrested about a mile from the incident. According to the report, Colquitt admitted to having two beers, three mixed drinks and hitting a parked Ford Focus as well as a tree stump.
He subsequently lost his scholarship to UT and was suspended for the first five games of the 2008 season. It was his fifth alcohol-related incident since arriving on campus in 2003.
The hearing was postponed several time, the latest on June 25.
Punter Chad Cunningham is likely to start for UT's season opener at UCLA on Sept. 1.
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Comments » 45
gohawks1 writes:
Get this thing behind you, Britton, and move forward.
TommyJack writes:
IP: I'm sure we will here from many that would like him executed.
volguy41nlouisiana writes:
Lessons are handed to us daily Britton....learn from it man...next time it could result in someone getting hurt or killed....youve been given a repreive......take heed .....best of luck to ya
tnvol737 writes:
Sounds like a pretty good lesson without ruining his life....hopefully he'll learn his lesson....pay higher insurance for a while...and put this behind him....if you cant drink and drive....lay off the booze. Good Luck.
knoxnewsuser writes:
FREE BRITTON!!!
gohawks1 writes:
TJ - most assuredly.
Volunatic writes:
Didn't John Adams say that this was his fifth offense?
The five-game suspension sounds sufficient to me for a first-offense DUI.
tigervol9802 writes:
If that's pretty standard punishment for DUI first-timers, I've no problem with it.
Volunatic writes:
Actually, I meant to say "The five-game suspension sounds like a sufficient response by Fulmer"-- when coupled with the legal penalties Britton has to face.
GerryOP writes:
Guess they are a little more lenient in K'town then where I live. But, so be it.
Good luck Britton. After 5 "incidents," hope this is the wakeup call that causes YOU to turn things around. Do not jeopardize your God-given gifts by making bad decisions. Be well...
PumpUptheVOLume writes:
Hope someone (Parents or Fulmer) sets up counseling.... Maybe he's not able to handle legacy pressures.. Who knows, we can only hope he overcomes to get back on track with being successful.
Could be worse!
Hang in there
BillBrasky writes:
This is a fair punishment. Missing games @UCLA and Auburn, and not being able to play against Florida your senior year at home, coupled with the 24 hours jail time, community service, fines, losing his scholarship, etc.......This kid has paid for this. Dont forget, he doesnt control the judge's decsion: he plead GUILTY and put himself at his mercy. He's owning up to it, so you cant fault him for that.
TommyJack writes:
Dad: Sr.
Volgrad777 writes:
Fair punishment. Its not his first offense , only the first DUI. He was actually busted when i was in school his first week on campus i believe. Hes a young guy whos popular and been in somewhat of a spotlight. I knew they guy , he doesnt have a problem with alcohol, hes obviously got a problem with getting caught. He didnt drink that much , i suppose you could call it stupid , but a lot of bad luck and timing as well. This is a serious crime but its not as if he needs to retreat to rehab for a few months , let us not forget these kids are in college and i do unerstand its happened to him more than a few times , but it could also happen to any student that many times , i know this first hand. That doesnt make it right , doesnt make it smart , just makes it understandable. I would be willing to guarantee no more incidents with him. I met a lot of athletes while in college and had many friends on the team , the kids originally from the Knoxville area seemed to have a tougher time than the rest simply because they had more friends locally and more allys and choices already in place for trouble. At least it seemed that way to me.
99gator writes:
i do not know the nature of the other four alcohol incidents.....but, depending on the nature of those incidents.....i would hope he would get some sort of help in dealing with alcohol.
Volgrad777 writes:
The other offenses by the way were , one DUI that was later dropped completely. The rest were underage consumption i believe , they all happened in 03 if im not mistaken , one could possibly be a DIP , but i think the rest were underage consumption.
bkgunter writes:
Zero posts suggesting thuggery---interesting. If his "gifts" are god-given, doesn't it stand to reason that his alcoholism is too? This guy definitely has been counseled. He is the poster boy for relapse, though, and might always be at high risk for it.
BillBrasky writes:
bkgunter:
Yes, ZERO posts suggesting thuggery. You know why? He wasn't shooting guns in the air or selling drugs or playing loud rap music to p!ss off the cops or failing drug tests or bringing a fake penis to a drug test or assaulting/sexually assaulting women and other fellow students. Also, he is well-known in the community and is the farthest thing from a 'Thug'. Are you implying that he isn't being called a thug because he is white??? If you're trying to throw out the race card, save it. Doesn't apply here.
Volsrbest writes:
Can he redshirt?
gohawks1 writes:
bkgunter -
God given alcoholism? You can't be serious.....
vol4gzus writes:
No.He can only red-face if he chooses to embarrass and ruin his athletic career. Learn from mistakes in good judgement and survive by the grace of God. He delivered me from throws of alcohol to a better life without needing an external boost to enjoy each day!
99gator writes:
tngeoff
no surprise....
me and chris low see eye to eye on this thing.
AugVol writes:
I'm sorry, but he got off light. He was one wrong turn away from killing someone and being charged with vehicular homicide or worse. Five "incidents" is five too many. It doesn't sound like he has any respect for his coaching staff, university, or community. All things considered, he is lucky given his stupidity. Let's hope he grows up and gets it all straightened out before he leaves school.
99gator writes:
tngeoff
well, as i have said before.....tenn has a lot of ?'s.
we won't know the answers until the games are played. those ?'s can end up being answered positively or negatively.
this time last year, florida had two questions. can tim tebow throw the football and run the offense? can florida replace 9 starters and several key backups on defense?
one question was answered postively beyond most people's expectations. the other question was answered negatively beyond most people's expectations.
99gator writes:
dc
tenn has defensive questions too. some of those questions are a larger concern than the offensive ones.
regarding florida's questions.....
#1 will effect #2. #2 will effect #1.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
If our replacement punter can kick it far as Ainge could throw it out of bounds, we'll be ok.
Colquitt, already forgiven here, go on thru life and be carefull.
People in glass houses....
TommyJack writes:
99: That would be affect.
99gator writes:
tj
i'll never get that right before i die. must be a lapse in the education system down in florida.
affect.....effect.
i'll never learn.
LadyVolsEighTimes writes:
First DUI in Tennessee has a mandantory 48 hours in Jail on it. THe Law says this is mandantory and can't be substituted, with litter picker, or anything else.
I have nothing against Dustin, but this is another case of Money/Lawyer getting around the law.
cjraney writes:
Lady-
The mandatory minimum 48hrs in jail didn't take effect til July 1, 2008. Before that it was 24hr min for adults of legal drinking age plus required litter pickup.
TommyJack writes:
99: As a regular viewer of this board, I won't get into that. :)
LadyVolsEighTimes writes:
cj, it took effect about 15 years ago, new rulings have reinforced it, as some judges completely disregarded it.
Feared_Mustang_Package writes:
PumpuptheVolume:
Hope someone (Parents or Fulmer) sets up counseling.... Maybe he's not able to handle legacy pressures.. Who knows, we can only hope he overcomes to get back on track with being successful.
Could be worse!
Hang in there
Yeah, my dad and brother punted here lets go get hammered and go drive. Are you serious? Seriously?
TommyJack writes:
Lady8: Who's Dustin?
Volsrbest writes:
One area I don't think we'll have any question marks in is the defensive backfield. Should be the best in the SEC. Hopefully the rest of the "D" can step it up from last year and post better stats...especially right out of the gate. If the "O" line can run block as well as they pass block, we'll have some chances to open some eyes this year.
cobbwebb writes:
no one cares about floridas probs you knuckleheads, this is not gogatorsxtra.com find another site to spew your nonsense we dont want it.on that note i think its garb britton ,from a well to do family gets his scholarship taken away as punishment for a fifth offense , while a poor kid from the ghetto whose family cant afford to foot the bill for his school after the scholarship is taken , gets the boot, go figure it doesnt add up to me , i wish the kid success and hope he doesnt hurt himself or anyone else ,maybe he will get his butt in gear and straighten up his life, but the bouble standard bothers me
pdhuff#552644 writes:
bluetick 8:36 - I know it was a typo like many of mine, but "bouble standard" must be a new high.
rsarazen#221200 writes:
5th offense since attending U.T.? Unfortunately he should have been kicked off after at least the 3rd offense. By law he is considered an adult and he has been given many more opportunities than any of us would have ever been given. I have zero sympathy for this type of behavior. We grow in life through the hard times. Getting kicked off a team which means everything to you is learning a tough life lesson. This action would have forced the issue of reahb on this young man. Enabling never works.
Volgrad777 writes:
Enabling , youve got to be kidding me. He is in college , you sound like Dr. Phil , thats psycho bable coming from someone who knows nothing beyond what they read. Lady , Dustin??? You do have something against him though , it appears from all of your previous posts you have something against most of the football and basketball players , men that is , especially the successful ones , i assume youve been on the other end of a situation like this. Well , lets face it , thats the way life is darlin , so chin up and get used to it. Is it his fault he can afford a good lawyer?? I know , he should have hired the bum that used to sit beside Walgreens on the strip to represent him simply because his family has money , thats an ignorant statement. The guy has had some bad breaks and made some really stupid mistakes. Although two of those incidents he was a passenger in a vehicle in which someone else was intoxicated. Thats stupid , but not the end of the world. Look into these incidents before you judge the kid on what you read. Also , no mandatory 48, what time he spent in jail when arrested was credited toward his total hours. I have seen this hundreds of times so it was no special treatment.
pdhuff#552644 writes:
Doldrums have totally engulfed us.
rsarazen#221200 writes:
You sound like an attorney. Yawn
BillVol writes:
Lady, they changed the law because of overcrowding in jails. Now only 24 hrs in jail is required. The other 24 hrs is served by performing community service, usually picking up trash wearing a vest that reads, "I Am A Drunk Driver." IMO such a vest is cruel and unusual punishment.
TommyJack writes:
BillVol: Unusual maybe, but cruel?? How so? Might it upset one's sensibilities? Please.
Ralph_Crampton writes:
Let us stop harping on the mistakes of others and face the fact that half of U.S adult population does drink, or has had a sip or two from time to time...its over..lets move on and concentrate on the upcoming battle against UCLA on Labor day in the furnace-like tempature in the Rose bowl. Will the Vols wilt in the heat as they did last time? The ROPE-A-DOPE scheme almost worked last time as the Vols wilted so bad the last time that they almost blew the game in the minute or two. What is ROPE-A-DOPE..? It was an idea fostered by Muhummad Ali, former boxing champ who allowed opponents to bang away while he leaned on the ropes rolling with the punches for several rounds, once he observed his opponent had punched himself out, Ali, came off the ropes and quickly pounded his foe into submission rather easy. The Bruins did that last time as Vols were so tired in the second half, they almost blew a big 24-3 halftime lead...C'mon Vols, don't fall for the ROPE -A-Dope this time...save yourself by substituting freely...don't punch yourself out in the first half...the heat will be devastating and the game lasts 60 minutes. Hang in there.
Ralph_Crampton writes:
Of course you are right Marc-. It is estimated that right now at this instant...there is one drunk driver out of every fifty cars on the highway. The U.S needs to change the way it seeks out the drunk driver. In Europe in some countries cars are confiscated..bars are located in each neighborhood whereby the patrons are able to walk to the tavern from their home. Drunk driving means ruination. I doubt that stiff laws like Europe has would be acceptable in this country because of the powerful liquor and automobile lobbies. Of course other nations do not a love affair with cars like we do.
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